yocum



C. F. YOCUM.

SIGHT ARM FOR DITCHING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FiLED MAYM. x915.

1L 15. 9%A6U n Patented. Aug. 15, 1916.

mvmvmm W @M W )yM W CHARLES F. YOCUIVI, 0F FINDLAY, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE BUCKEYE TBACTIQN DITCHER COMPANY, OF FINDLAY, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

SIGHT-ARM FOR DITCI-IING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. T5, llll llti.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, (brAnLus F. YooUM, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Findlay, in the county of Hancock and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Sight-Arm for Ditching-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to trench digging or excavating -machines, and particularly to improvements in the sight-arms used in connection therewith.

In the use of sight-aims in connection with machines of the character described it is the practice to keep the sight portion thereof on a level with a set of ground stakes positioned in advance of the machine and provided with cross or..sight arms, which are set to a predetermined grade to which the machine is to cut. In order to cut an absolutely level trench it is necessary for the operator to keep the sight-arm on the machine exactly level with the cross-arms on the stakes ahead. As much uneven ground is encountered in ditching, and the machine is thereby liable to lean one way or the other, the machine sight-arm, if fastened rigidly to the digging wheel frame, as has heretofore been the custom, would be thrown out of line or would not be level with the ground stakes, thereby causing considerable difficulty in digging a level trench.

The object of my invention is the provision, in connection with a machine of the character described, of a sight-arm which is automatically operable to adjust itself relative to the machine frame so that the sightarm portion thereof always maintains a level position irrespective of the equalization of the machine thereby obviating the objections hereinbefore noted.

The invention is fully described in the following specification, and while in its broader aspect it is capable of embodiment in numerous forms, a preferred embodiment thereof is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sight arm embodying my invention, attached to a ditching machine, portions of which have been removed, with the sight-arm in level relation to the customary ground stakes, and Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the wheel carrying frame with the sight arm embodying the invention attached thereto.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the customary cutting-wheel carrying frame of a ditch digging machine of the rotary cutter type, and 2 the cutting-wheel carried by said frame. The cutting-wheel 2 is gu1ded in its rotary movements by a set of idler rolls 3 carried in part by the main portion of the frame 1 and in part by the inner structure 4: of said frame, as is well understood in the art.

The sight arm embodying my invention comprises the lower upright or pendulum part 5, which is disposed within the wheel 2 and pivoted, as at 6, to a bearing bracket 7, which extends across and is supported by a portion of the inner structure 4 of the cutting-wheel carrying frame. The pendulum part 5 is weightedat its lower end, as at 8, to normally retain the pendulum in upright position. The upright or pendulum part 5 at a short distance above the bearing bracket 7 extends outward, as at 9, to a point at a side of the wheel 2, thence upward, as at 10, and thence outward to form the sight arm portion 11. The portion 11 is disposed in a horizontal plane and maintains such horizontal position irrespective of the position of the cutting wheel carrying frame, by reason of the weighted pendulum action of the upright part 5. A guide plate 12 is secured to one of the main bars of the frame 1 to serve to brace the sight arm.

It is preferable in practice to provide the upright portion 10 of the arm in two pieces, which are bolted or otherwise suitably secured together in lapped relation, one of said pieces having the sight arm 11 projecting therefrom. This facilitates a vertical adjustment of the sight arm part 11 relative to the pendulum part to suit the height of the operator, as the arm 11 may thereby be vertically adjusted relative to the pendulum part and frame 1.

An arm 13 projects from the upper end of the pendulum part 5 in opposition to the part 9 and carries a weight 14, which counterbalances the portion of the sight arm that is oifset from the pendulum 5 thereby assisting the Weighted pendulum in maintainltd ing the sight arm part 11 in level or horizontal position.

It is'apparent in the use of my lmproved sight-arm that the operator may sight across the horizontal part 11 and grade stakes 15 set in advance of the machine and thereby maintain the proper cutting grade of the machine.

I wish it understood that my invention is not limited to any specific construction or arrangement of the parts except in so far as such limitations are specified in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,--

1. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a frame part, of a weighted pendulum pivoted to said part for transverse swinging movements relative thereto and having a horizontally projecting sight arm part.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a frame part, and a cutting-wheel rotatably carried thereby, of a pendulum pivotally carried by said frame part within the wheel for transverse swinging movements relative thereto and having a sight-arm part 'projecting from within the wheel and disposed at one side thereof and normally maintained in level position by the gravity action of said pendulum.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a frame part, and a cutting-wheel carried thereby, of a pendulum pivotally carried by said frame part Within the wheel and having its pendant portion weighted to normally assume a vertical position and its upper portion extending transversely of the wheel, thence upward at the side thereof and thence outward to form an elevated horizontally projecting sight-arm part at a side of the wheel, the level of which sight arm part is normally maintained by the action of the lower weighted end of said pendulum, and means projecting from the upper end of the pendulum part in opposition to said sight arm part to counterbalance the latter.

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a frame part, of a pendulum pivoted to said frame part for transverse swinging movements relative thereto and having its lower end weighted, the upper end of said pendulum being offset, and a sight-arm part carried by the offset portion of said pendulum part for vertical adjustment relative thereto and normally maintained in horizontal position by said weighted pendulum part.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name to this specification.

CHARLES F. YOCUM. 

